JP2003196734A - Device for supplying cup - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cup supplying device with which stacked cups can be easily and efficiently inserted for replenishment into a case from both the upper side and the lower side of the case. <P>SOLUTION: In this cup supplying device, a base 2 is provided with a plurality of cup locking units 4, and the mutual operation of first and second pawl pieces 8 and 9 of the cup locking units 4 can sequentially separate the lowest cup among cups C of the stacked cups P in the case 1 by one cup at a time to take out the cup. The individual cup locking units 4 are supported vertically rotatably with respect to the base 2, and are flexibly energized downward through a spring 26. When the stacked cups P are inserted into an opening part 3 from the lower side of the case 1, and the individual cup locking units 4 are rotated upward against the spring 26. The rotation displacement can insert the stacked cups P into the case 1 from the lower side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accommodates a plurality of paper or plastic cups stacked on top of each other in a case, and separates the cups one by one as needed. The present invention relates to a cup supply device that can be pulled out and taken out. 2. Description of the Related Art A cup dispenser is installed near a beverage dispenser such as a tea machine, and a user of the beverage dispenser takes out the cups one by one from the cup dispenser and uses it to receive a beverage. I am trying to do it. [0003] This type of cup supply device is composed of a case and a cup locking member provided at a lower portion of the case, and a cup laminate formed by stacking a plurality of cups is accommodated in the case. The lowermost cup of the cup laminate is supported by the cup locking member. A conventional cup locking member is made of an elastic thin plate material such as urethane rubber having an opening through which a cup can pass, and a plurality of tongue-like projections are provided uniformly on the periphery of the opening. The lowermost cup of the cup laminate accommodated in the case projects downward from the opening, and a flange formed on the outer periphery of the upper end of the lowermost cup is supported by each of the projections. [0005] When the lowermost cup protruding below the opening is pulled down with a certain force or more, the projection is elastically deformed, and the flange on the outer periphery of the upper end of the cup is detached from the projection. The elasticity of the protrusions after the detachment supports the flange at the upper edge of the second cup which is overlaid on the uppermost cup, and by such an operation, the cups can be sequentially pulled out one by one. ing. However, in such a conventional configuration, if the cup is strongly grasped and pulled out, the second cup may come out together with the first cup, and the aging due to long-term use may occur. When the protrusion of the cup locking member deteriorates due to the change and its elastic force is insufficient,
After all, there is a problem that a plurality of cups come out together. Therefore, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-166673, a base is provided at the lower portion of the case, an opening is formed in the base, and the cup engaging unit having a pair of vertically overlapping claw pieces is connected to the opening. A plurality of parts are provided evenly around the part,
The lower claw pieces of these cup locking units support the lowermost cup flange, and the lower claw pieces are rotated downward in accordance with the operation of pulling the cup downward, and the upper claw pieces are attached to the cup. A cup supply device has been proposed in which the flange of the second cup is locked by projecting horizontally to the side where the second cup is disposed, so that only the lowermost cup can be pulled out from the upper cup. . [0008] By the way, this kind of cup supply device is installed in the vicinity of the beverage supply device so that the take-out portion of the cup is placed near the user's hand, and the case is provided with a case. Is located at a relatively high level. When the cup laminate is supplied into the case, the cup laminate is inserted into the case from the opening at the upper end of the case. If the upper end of the case is at a high level, The replenishment is difficult, and it becomes a troublesome and troublesome inefficient work. If the cup stack can be inserted and replenished from a lower level position on the lower side of the case, the work can be easily and efficiently accomplished. However, in the conventional cup supply device, When trying to insert the cup laminate from the lower side of the case, the upper end of the cup laminate hits the claw piece of the cup locking unit and is prevented from being inserted. Therefore, there is a drawback that the cup laminate must be inserted from the upper end of the case. The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to easily and efficiently insert and replenish the cup laminate from the upper side or the lower side of the case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup supply device which can be used. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a case for accommodating a cup laminate, a base provided at a lower portion of the case, and a base formed on the base. An opening through which the cup can pass, and a plurality of cup locking units provided on the base so as to be evenly arranged around the opening, and each cup locking unit is A cup laminated body having first and second pairs of claw pieces detachable from a cup flange of the cup laminated body arranged in the opening, and housed in a case by mutual operation of these claw pieces; In a cup supply device capable of sequentially separating and removing the cups one by one from the lowermost layer, while supporting each of the cup locking units so as to be vertically rotatable with respect to the base, These cup locking units are elastically urged downward via a spring, and when the cup laminate is inserted into the opening from the lower side of the case, each cup locking unit is opposed to the spring. The cup stack is rotated upward, and the cup stack can be inserted into the case from below by this rotational displacement. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire appearance of the cup supply device. Reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical case for housing stacked cups, and a base 2 is attached to the lower end of the case 1. An opening 3 slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cup is formed in the base 2, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of, for example, four cup locking units 4 are provided on the inner upper surface of the base 2 so as to be evenly disposed on the peripheral portion of the base 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, each of the cup locking units 4 has a box-shaped unit main body 7 whose front and lower surfaces are open. Two pairs of claw pieces 8, 9 are housed in a vertically overlapping manner. At the lower ends on both sides of the unit body 7, pivots 11, 12 projecting horizontally and coaxially to the sides thereof, respectively.
Are formed integrally. The pivots 11 and 12 are fitted inside arc-shaped bearings 13 and 14 formed integrally with the base 2, and are rotatably supported between the bearings 13 and 14 and the base 2. I have. The pivots 11 and 12 extend in the tangential direction of the opening 3, so that the unit body 7 can rotate around these pivots 11 and 12 in the front-rear direction which is the direction around the axes. . A cutout hole 15 is formed in the base 2 as an escape portion when the unit body 7 rotates. Each cup locking unit 4 is normally held so as to be in horizontal contact with the upper surface of the base 2 by the elastic force of a torsion spring 26 described later.
In FIG. 3, one cup locking unit 4 is connected to the pivot 1
The figure shows a state in which it is rotated about 1 and 12 and tilted. A guide groove 16 having a U-shaped cross section is formed on the inner surface of each side wall of the unit body 7, and a cut 17 is formed on the upper side of the guide groove 16, and further, a lower side of the guide groove 16 is formed. , A support hole 18 is formed. A support shaft 19 is integrally formed on both sides of the first claw piece 8, and a projection 20 is integrally formed on an upper surface of a rear end portion. Then, the support shafts 19 on both sides are fitted into the support holes 18 of the unit main body 7, and these support shafts 19
The first claw piece 8 is rotatably supported in the vertical direction with respect to the unit main body 7 via the. The second claw piece 9 is disposed so as to overlap the first claw piece 8, and a receiving pin 23 is integrally formed on the upper surface of the second claw piece 9 to protrude therefrom. Has a notch 24
Is formed. Then, the notch 24 of the second claw 9 fits into the projection 20 of the first first claw 8, and in this state, both side edges of the second claw 9 are in the guide grooves 16 of the unit body 7. Is slidably fitted to A support pin 25 that rises upward is formed integrally with an intermediate portion of one pivot 11 of the unit body 7, and a torsion spring 2 as a spring is attached to the support pin 25.
6 is mounted. One arm 26a of the torsion spring 26 has
It is locked by a spring receiving portion 27 formed integrally with the base 2. The other arm 26b of the torsion spring 26 is formed to be relatively long, and an intermediate portion thereof is inserted into the notch 17 of the unit body 7 to come into contact with the pin 23 of the second claw piece 9, and this contact is made. As a result, the second claw piece 9 is elastically urged toward the rear side of the unit body 7, and the urging force prevents the second claw piece 9 from sliding forward. The distal end of the arm 26b of the return spring 26, that is, the portion extending from the cut 17 is bent upward in a U-shape to elastically contact the upper surface of the unit body 7, and this contact makes the unit body 7 Are elastically pressed downward. The first and second claw pieces 8 and 9 of each cup locking unit 4 are normally held substantially horizontally at the time of normal operation, and the leading edge of the first claw piece 8 is The second claw piece 9 protrudes to a region inside the opening 3, and the leading edge of the second claw piece 9 is disposed behind the leading edge of the first claw piece 8. When the cup laminate P is accommodated in the case 1 from the opening at the upper end thereof, as shown in FIG. 6A, the lowermost cup C of the laminate P is
The tip of the first claw piece 8 in each cup locking unit 4 in which the flange C1 of the upper end edge of the cup C is evenly arranged around the opening 3 while projecting downward through the opening 3 of the cup C It is evenly supported on the upper surface of the edge, and this supporting state is maintained by the elastic force of the torsion spring 26. When the lowermost first cup C in the cup laminate P is pulled down with a certain force or more from such a state, as shown in FIG. The first claw piece 8 pivots downward about the support shaft 19 against the elastic force of the torsion spring 26 and tilts downward. With this tilting operation, the projection 20 of the first claw piece 8 is formed.
The second claw piece 9 is pushed horizontally along the guide groove 16 so as to slide against the elastic force of the torsion spring 26 through the guide groove 16, and its leading edge is located inside the opening 3. Projecting into the area. Then, a flange C1 of the second cup C in the upper layer, which overlaps the cup C in the lowermost layer, is supported at the tip edge of each second claw piece 9 protruding into the area inside the opening 3. When the first claw pieces 8 are inclined to a predetermined angle, the first claw pieces 8 and the flange C1 of the first cup C are set.
And the first cup C is pulled downward. At this time, the second cup C is locked at a fixed position at the tip end of the second claw piece 9, so that the first cup C is securely and securely separated from the second cup C. It is cut off exactly and pulled out in a single state. After the first claw piece 8 is disengaged from the first cup C, the second claw piece 9 moves outward of the opening 3 by the elastic force of the torsion spring 26. As the second claw piece 9 retreats horizontally, the projection 20 of the first claw piece 8 is pressed rearward by the retreating operation of the second claw piece 9, and the first claw piece 8 rotates upward about the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum. I do. Then, the second claw piece 9 retreats, so that the second
Of the second cup C, the tip edge of the second claw C is detached from the flange C1 of the second cup C, and the first claw piece of the second cup C is rotated upward to return to the horizontal state. 8, and is supported by the elastic force of the torsion spring 26, and is in a state of waiting for the second cup C to be pulled out. By repeating such an operation, the cups C of the cup laminated body P accommodated in the case 1 are surely separated one by one from the lowermost layer one by one and pulled out. It is preferable that the pivots 11 and 12 of each cup locking unit 4 are fitted to the bearings 13 and 14 with a small play, so that the operation of pulling out the cup C can be further improved. It can be smooth. In this cup supply device, the cup stack P is not limited to the case where it is inserted from the opening at the upper end of the case 1 and replenished, but is inserted into the case 1 from below the base 2 through the opening 3. The lowermost cup C can be locked to each cup locking unit 4. The operation in this case will be described.
As shown in (1), first, the cup laminate P is inserted into the opening 3 from below the base 2 and pushed up. When the cup laminate P is inserted into the opening 3, the uppermost cup C
Of the first claw 8 of each cup locking unit 4 abuts on the top edge. By further pushing the cup laminate P, the entire cup locking unit 4 is pivotally mounted on the pivot 11,
With the fulcrum 12 as a fulcrum, the claw pieces 8 and 9 are rotated upward against the torsion spring 26 to incline upward, whereby the flange C1 of the uppermost cup C passes through the first claw pieces 8. Then, by such an operation, the flange C1 of each cup C of the cup laminate P sequentially passes through the first claw pieces 8, and the cup laminate P is inserted into the case 1. The collar C1 of the lowermost cup C is the first claw piece 8
, The cup laminate P is slightly pulled down. With this lowering, each cup locking unit 4 is elastically rotated downward by the urging force of the torsion spring 26, and the first claw piece 8 of each cup locking unit 4 is set to the lowermost layer of the cup C flange. It enters under C1 and thereby the cup laminate P is locked. Under this condition, as in the case described above,
When the lowermost first cup C is pulled down with a certain force or more, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), the first claw pieces 8 of each cup locking unit 4 have the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum. While rotating downward and tilting downward against the elastic force of the torsion spring 26, the second claw piece 9 protrudes forward, thereby separating the lowermost cup C from the uppermost cup C to separate it from the lowermost cup C. Only one cup C can be taken out. As described above, according to the cup supply device of this embodiment, the cup laminate P can be inserted from the lower side of the case 1 and refilled into the case 1, so that the upper end of the case 1 has a high level. , The cup laminate P can be easily and efficiently replenished into the case 1. The above embodiment is an example in which the case 1 is installed so as to stand substantially vertically. As shown in FIG. 8, the case 1 is inclined obliquely on a gantry 31 in a housing 30. The base 2 having a plurality of cup locking units 4 may be provided below the case 1 so as to intersect at right angles to the axial direction of the case 1. The case 1 in this case is not tubular but has a gutter shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 9, and the cup laminate P is housed in the case 1. In addition, the front surface of the housing 30 is open, and an opening / closing door 32 is provided at the opening to be openable and closable. When removing the cup C, the door 32
Is opened, and the lowermost cup C protruding from the base 2 is drawn to the near side, whereby the cups C can be separated and taken out of the cup laminate P one by one in the same manner as described above. In this embodiment, since the outer periphery of the case 1 is surrounded by the peripheral wall of the housing 30, it is difficult to supply the cup laminate P from the upper side of the case 1 when supplying the cup laminate P. Therefore, in this case, the cup laminate P is inserted from the opening 3 of the base 2 on the lower side of the case 1 and supplied into the case 1 as in the case described above. Thereby, the cup laminate P can be easily and efficiently supplied into the case 1 without being hindered by the peripheral wall of the housing 30. In the above embodiment, the base 2
Was provided with four cup locking units 4,
The number is not limited to four. For example, three cup locking units 4 may be provided evenly around the opening 3 without any problem. As described above, according to the present invention,
When refilling the cup laminate in the case, the cup laminate can be inserted from the bottom of the case and replenished,
Therefore, even when the upper end of the case is arranged at a high level, replenishment can be easily and efficiently performed. Even when the periphery of the case is surrounded by the wall of the housing or the like, the cup laminate can be easily supplied from the lower side of the case without being hindered by the case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view showing a cup supply device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a structure inside a base in the cup supply device. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure inside the base. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cup locking unit of the base. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the cup locking unit. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view showing the operation of the cup locking unit at the time of removing the cup. FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view showing an operation of the cup locking unit at the time of cup supply. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 8; DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Case 2 ... Base 3 ... Opening 4 ... Cup locking unit 7 ... Unit body 8 ... First claw piece 9 ... Second claw pieces 11 and 12 ... Pivot shafts 13 and 14 ... Bearing 19 … Support shaft 26… Torsion spring

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A case for accommodating a cup laminate, a base provided at a lower portion of the case, an opening formed in the base through which a cup can pass, and this opening. And a plurality of cup locking units provided on the base so as to be evenly disposed on the periphery of the cup. Each of the cup locking units is provided on a flange of a cup of the cup laminate to be disposed in the opening. The first that can be disengaged
And a second pair of claw pieces, and the cup supply device capable of sequentially separating and taking out the cups of the cup laminate housed in the case one by one from the lowermost layer by mutual operation of these claw pieces. The cup locking units are rotatably supported in the vertical direction with respect to the base, and the cup locking units are elastically urged downward via a spring to open the opening from the lower side of the case. When the cup laminate is inserted into the portion, each cup locking unit is rotated upward against the spring, and the rotational displacement causes the cup laminate to be inserted into the case from below. A cup dispenser characterized in that it is made possible.